I see both sides in this. I am glad to see more Americans standing up for their beliefs that they don’t want to be roped in to supporting gay pride. <\/p>\n
LATIMES.com<\/a>: Eric Moutsos wants you to understand this: He\u2019s no bigot. He\u2019s just a religious man, he says, with some personal convictions against homosexual behavior.<\/p>\n The former Salt Lake City policeman says he has many LGBT friends. He just did not want to ride as a uniformed motorcycle escort in the front of last year\u2019s gay pride parade.<\/p>\n And that conviction, the devout Mormon and father of four says, prompted him to quit the department after being placed on leave over the incident.<\/p>\n \u201cI love gay people,\u201d the 33-year-old told the Los Angeles Times on Thursday. \u201cI love them like I love humanity. I just did not agree with some of the messages in that parade.\u201d<\/p>\n Now Moutsos finds himself amid a PR firestorm \u2014 trading verbal shots with Salt Lake City Police Chief Chris Burbank, who supports the decision to put Moutsos on leave, declaring he won\u2019t tolerate officers allowing personal bias to interfere with their work.<\/p>\n Moutsos has hired a lawyer and is contemplating a lawsuit over what he says is a violation of his religious liberties, saying he has no problem becoming a socially conservative voice in a national debate about how to safeguard religious beliefs while protecting LGBT rights.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I see both sides in this. I am glad to see more Americans standing up for their beliefs that they don’t want to be roped in to supporting gay pride. LATIMES.com: Eric Moutsos wants you to understand this: He\u2019s no … Continue reading